Croatian soccer fans donate blood this week to get tickets for the national team's decisive World Cup qualifying game against Sweden, reports Reuters quoting Vecernji List daily. The game's organizers have reserved 300 tickets for the donors. But the number of volunteer blood donors in Zagreb is beyond their expectation. According to Reuters, students skip classes to queue in the hospital. Employees throng at the hospital during lunch breaks.

A high school football player born without legs was back on the field Saturday after being removed by a referee in a game earlier this month. Colonel White High School senior Bobby Martin, who was born without legs, was sidelined Sept. 16 during a game for not being "fully equipped. "Martin played in his team's previous three games as a member of the punt return squad, using his arms to move down the field.

China's first astronaut, Yang Liwei, is likely to act in a charity movie produced by filmmaker Tsui Hark. The movie will raise funds for deprived children in China and is set to open during the Lunar New Year.

Mounted atop huge elephants and wielding long mallets, the Chivas Regal Scotland team nabs its second King's Cup Elephant Polo title Sunday, after scoring a golden goal in overtime to beat Thailand's Mullis Capital, 6-5. About 1,500 people watched the fifth annual charity game, which raises money for Thailand's National Elephant Institute in Lampang. The tournament took place near Hua Hin, 80 miles southwest of Bangkok.

In an attempt to polish the city's image, authorities in Nanjing, China are banning taxi drivers who are bald, wear their hair too long, have mustaches or wear too much make-up. The new rules are part of a 10-point plan to spruce up Nanjing before the October 10 National Games which will attract audiences from across the country.